Hi all - this is a long shot, but here goes: I'm working on a radio story about the Okeh Laughing Record, and the sub-genre it was a part of. I'd love to interview a few people who've had interesting encounters with the Okeh Laughing Record. "King Luckbar of Mars" or "CM in Mexico," are you still out there? Anyone else have a memory of experiencing it for the first time? Maybe finding it in a parent's collection? I'd love to hear about it. bruce.wallace@gmail.com

This exact recording was used (and credited) in the 1955 cartoon directed and written by Tex Avery, "Sh-h-h-h-h-h".

I'm not sure if Al. H. Weston & Irene Young are their real names, but after listening to a collection of fifteen laughing records/cylinders, five of them were definitely recorded by the same people that performed on the Okeh Laughing Record. Al. H. Weston & Irene Young made a long career out of performing laughing songs, they were considered comedians in their day.

Wonderful recording from carefree times!
I don't have this on the original 78 rpm Okeh disk, but on another 78: Cardinal 540 (a subsidiary of Gennett records, where it was also issued on Gnt 4994 (recorded mid November, 1922, mx-nr. 8096 a). The performers are: Al. H. Weston & Irene Young. The recording is virtually identical to the one on Okeh, exept that the cornet is replaced by a soprano saxophone (plays even more outrageous wrong notes!).
Looking up an Okeh listing, I found this recording bears mx-nr. 70986 a , rec. Nov. 4th, 1922, so just days before the Gennett/Cardinal version. In the Ok listing, performers are not given for Ok 4678, but on aural grounds I'm absolutely positive that these are the same performers as on my Cardinal 540, namely Al. H. Weston & Irene Young.
It seems to me that "Laughing records" were quite popular at this time !
ENJOY!!!

This record brings back haunting memories...
Walt Jones Fantastic Museum in the Seattle Center Food Circus in the 70's had this recording playing out in front of his museum where there were many pictures of old sideshow human oddities displayed.
The man and woman laughing accompanied a recording of a sideshow barker (Jones) enticing patrons to enter.
I got to know Walt Jones and did get to see the old record he used which was labeled "man and woman laughing". Unfortunately I don't recall more details of the record I saw however it's unmistakably the exact same recording as I have an old cassette recording of his to compare.
The eclectic nature of my first exposure to this recording gave it an indelible association with the weird and strange that I still find haunting to this day.
Walt also had a laughing woman inside that gave out great belly laughs when you stood on the trigger mat in front of her wood and glass enclosure. She sat on a box inside and rocked back and forth with arms and legs swinging wildly - the recording was different however I donÂt know the origins. IÂve herd rumors that the Jones laughing woman came from the old San Francisco Fun House however a recent internet search proved that she was not as the real San Francisco laughing woman was recently restored - a brief video clip can be seen online and the laughing is different.
Anyone know any more details about this recording?
Who were the performers and what was the inspiration to make this?

memories of growing up in the 60's and watching a kids show on WGN. Ray Rayner and friends. A Vehicle for Bugs Bunny cartoons. Ray had a odd cast of characters on his show, a duck named Chelveston, a rather large dog/puppet named Cuddley Duddley to name a few. When Ray attempted an art project (usually purposley poorly accomplished one) this record usually played in the background. It had me laughing every time.

When I was 10, in 1953, I discovered this 78 record in my father's large and rather eclectic collection. (He had everything from original Caruso recorded on one side of a brittle disk to albums by Woody Guthrie and everything between.) The pure cognitive dissonance between the mournful trumpet of the lead-in and the repressed laughter that interrupts and then builds steadily into gales of hilarity - complete with the trumpet player stubbornly trying to resume his funereal solo - had me rolling on the floor. Anyone who has ever tried as a kid - or as an adult - to repress the giggles only to see it build into a sitcom gale of laughter (think of Mary Tyler Moore at the clown's funeral) will understand the dynamic of this wonderful old 78. What a rush to find it again, out here on the net! As for why a mostly black music label would issue it - this was a wonderfully subversive recording, if you think about it. I mean, how easy was it for black people to openly laugh at anything white (like that background trumpet dirge) in 1923?

One of the truly stranger audio pieces I've run across, the title of this 78 is accurate: it consists of 3 minutes of a man and a woman laughing. It starts off with a solo trumpet playing a meloncholy tune, when a woman interrupts and starts laughing. The man soon joins in, occasionally pausing to play the trumpet again. The man's laughter does seem a bit forced at times. Overall, a strange bit from a label more known for its race records.